The invention concerns a payment method guaranteeing payment to the retailer in the context of electronic commerce carried out using an electronic device such as a microcomputer, a mobile telephone or a personal assistant.
Electronic commerce consists of sending orders to a retailer using electronic equipment connected by a network to the electronic equipment of the retailer.
At the present time commerce is being carried out more and more using the Internet.
Two problems are then encountered.
This is because in the case of electronic commerce provision is made for the payments to be made also electronically, that is to say through the network.
The first problem is to provide security for the payer since the latter has to communicate his credit card or bank account number so that a debit from his account can be made.
The second problem is providing a payment guarantee for the vendor, that is to say for the retailer who supplies goods or a service to the customer.
This second problem is dealt with hereinafter.
A payment mechanism with a mobile telephone will now be detailed.
The retailer sends a payment request to a financial institution, the latter sends this request to the mobile telephone operator. The payer receives a short SMS message on his mobile telephone, he enters his identification code (PIN code) and the transaction is signed by a secret key recorded in the subscriber identification card of the telephone (SIM card). The server of the telephone operator verifies the signature and sends an approval to the financial institution. The payment is managed by the financial institution.
The drawback of this payment circuit stems from the fact that the authentication key used for the signature of the transaction is generated by and known to the telephone operator. This means that the financial institution cannot give a guaranteed payment to the retailer since the signature may be reproduced by a third party.
The lack of guarantee of the payment for the merchant is the major drawback of this mechanism.
A second known solution is the MOTO payment system, payment by Internet. The MOTO system: Mail Order Telephone Order, is the simplest system for making payments by Internet. This is because the system consists of communicating the credit card number vocally (on the telephone) or through the Internet to the retailer at the time of the order. This solution exists for electronic devices such as PCs and can of course be reproduced for transactions made with a mobile telephone.
The drawback of this method stems from the fact that the presence of the card is not proved by the retailer since the authentication of the holder of the card is not carried out during the transaction. In this case also, the guaranteed payment is not assured for the retailer. And unfortunately there are a large number of frauds in the whole world with the MOTO payment system which has just been described.
A third solution is known for payments on the Internet; this is the SET procedure: Secure Electronic Transaction. This procedure corresponds to a payment protocol which has been developed by a consortium of companies such as Visa, Mastercard, Europay and IBM. The SET protocol is dedicated to Internet commerce and provides a guarantee of payment for the retailer. This solution requires a logistical implementation which is very laborious for the server of the retailer and for loading the certificates of the payer.
The drawback of this method stems from the fact that it requires laborious logistics impossible to implement on portable devices such as a personal assistant or a GSM mobile telephone or other or on a new-technology WAP telephone.
Naturally a fourth solution, conventionally used outside electronic commerce, consists of directly paying at the retailer with one's credit card. It will be understood that this solution is not adapted to payment at a distance.
The MOTO (Mail Order Telephone Order) system is, as has been seen, the traditional method for making payments at a distance. Fraud with the MOTO system through the Internet and mobile telephone networks (principally for the prepaid market) has grown in a way which has been accelerating over the past few years. The payment card is considered not to be present for such purchases and thus the bank cannot guarantee a payment to retailers.
Only the standard solution which provides a guarantee of payment for the retailer is the SET solution for electronic commerce. However, as has been emphasised, this solution requires laborious logistical implementation for the loading of certificates for the payers and the deployment of this solution is still very slow.
All the payment schemes, in particular using a mobile telephone, at the present time present each of the technical drawbacks.
The solution proposed makes it possible to make payment for goods and services. It is independent of the channel used for “placing the order”, namely microcomputer (PC) on the Internet or “face to face” in a shop, mobile telephone, fixed telephone, personal assistant or post.
The solution can also be used in countries for which bank credit cards are not yet very developed.
The purpose of the present invention is to remedy the aforementioned drawbacks.